Tuesday, 14 July 2015

A Visit To Hemelhuijs Restaurant - Cape Town, SA

Whilst working in South Africa recently, I was lucky enough to experience some of the culinary delights of Cape Town and the surrounding area. There was never a shortage of fantastic places to eat, and I was particularly excited about having some interesting fresh food having lived in the bush in The Waterberg for the last 3 months. After trying a few, the restaurant that proved to be my favourite was called Hemelhuijs. The restaurant itself is very modern in both its menu and decor - there is a face on the wall made out of croutons, bright furnishings, and plenty of light let in through big glass windows looking out onto the street.

The crouton mosaic!

Their menu offers a healthy array of fresh salads, meats and vegetables. The menu itself is presented with wonderful big photos, making it very difficult to choose a dish! Anyway after much deliberation I chose their vegetable platter which was perfect having overindulged in both food and wine all week! I received a board with avocado, corn on the cob, butternut squash, rocket, beans and sweet roasted carrots, accompanied by some tasty homemade humus. It was the most delicious and fresh meal that I have ever eaten in a restaurant; colourfully presented and washed down with a delicious glass of Usana Pinot Gris. My friends enjoyed their gnocchi and kidneys too. For dessert we all decided each to try a different pudding from their freshly baked selection of sweet treats. I had slight food envy when I saw the cheesecake and apple tart - perhaps my taste has not fully adapted to the Afrikaans traditional milk tart that I chose!

Vegetable Platter with Hummus

Traditional Afrikaans Milk Tart

The next day I had planned on climbing Table Mountain, however the weather was miserable so I paid Hemelhuijs another lunchtime visit. This time I had a maple baked parsnip salad with whipped herb cheese, navel orange and mustard dressing to which I added slow roasted duck. The mustard dressing came in its own glass container on the plate, no pre dressed leaves meant the rocket and lettuce leaves still had a nice crunch, complementing the tender duck and soft parsnips. To follow I decided to try a thyme infused hot milk with Dulce de Leche which was amazing, sweet and warm but with an interesting hint of thyme.

Duck Salad

Thyme infused milk with Dulce de Leche

Both my trips to Hemelhuijs were simply delicious and at a very good price too, the total for the duck salad came to only 150 rand which is about £10 for a dining experience that you would be paying well over £20 for in the UK. So if you are visiting Cape Town I would highly recommend this as a restaurant to put on your list of places to go.